"Van Allen Radiation Belt" James Van Allen Hand Signed FDC COA for Sale

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"Van Allen Radiation Belt" James Van Allen Hand Signed FDC COA For Sale

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"Van Allen Radiation Belt" James Van Allen Hand Signed FDC COA:
$104.99

Up for sale "Van Allen Radiation Belt" James Van Allen Hand Signed First Day Cover.This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.ES - 8220

JamesAlfred Van Allen(September7, 1914– August 9, 2006) was an American space scientist at theUniversity of Iowa. He wasinstrumental in establishing the field ofmagnetosphericresearch in space. TheVan Allen radiation beltswerenamed for him, following his discovery usingGeiger–Müller tubeinstrumentson the 1958satellites(Explorer 1,Explorer 3, andPioneer 3)during theInternational GeophysicalYear. Van Allen led the scientific community in putting scientificresearch instruments on space satellites. Van Allen was born on 7 September1914 on a small farm nearMount Pleasant, Iowa, thesecond of four sons of Alfred Morris and Alma Olney Van Allen, a woman ofDutchancestry (van Allenbeing Dutch for"from Allen/Aalden"). He grew up in the small town of Mount Pleasant, 45miles south of Iowa City. As a child, he was fascinated by mechanical andelectrical devices and was an avid reader ofPopular MechanicsandPopular Sciencemagazines. He once horrified his motherby constructing aTesla Referral coilthatproduced foot-long sparks and caused his hair to stand on end.Van Allen credits C. A. Cottrell, a scienceinstructor in his high school, with stimulating his initial interest inscience. He developed parallel interests in wood and metal crafts and did wellin other subjects, becomingvaledictorianof his Mount Pleasant High School classupon his graduation in June 1931. His valedictorian address was:PaxRomana, Pax Americana. With a strong interest in things nautical (which heretained throughout his life), he took the entrance examinations for entry intotheU.S. Naval Academywhilein high school. With outstanding grades, and with the backing of his localCongressman,William F. Kopp, heapplied for admission. All went well initially, but when he appeared for hisphysical examination, he was rejected for three reasons: hisflat feet, somewhat deficient eyesight, and inability to swim.Hence, he pursued a different path. Following high school, Van Allen wenttoIowa Wesleyan CollegeinMount Pleasant. There, during the summer of 1932, after completing his freshmanyear, Van Allen was introduced togeophysicsresearch under the tutelage of physicsprofessorThomas C. Poulter. VanAllen had great admiration for this early mentor. He stated in one of hisautobiographical sketches, "Poulter, [was] one of the most inspiring andcreative experimentalists that I have ever known before or since thattime...." Poulter employed him as a summer assistant, "at 35 cents anhour, payable occasionally." Van Allen majored in physics andgraduatedsumma cum laudewithhis 37 classmates in June 1935. Poulter had been chosen by AdmiralRichard E. Byrdas his chief scientist for the 1933–1935Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition. He had the task of planning and conductinggeophysical investigations during that expedition. Van Allen assisted Poulterin those preparations. His contributions included the development of a numberof instruments, including a simpleseismographand a tilt-meter for recording the shiftingof glacial surfaces. Van Allen was entrusted with the checkout of a sensitivefieldmagnetometeron loanfrom theDepartment of Terrestrial Magnetism(DTM) oftheCarnegie InstitutionofWashington, DC. In learning to use the magnetometer and its associatedtheodolite, he made a magnetic field survey ofHenry County, Iowa, whichwas included in the 1932 national grid published by the Department ofTerrestrial Magnetism. Reflecting later on this magnetometer, he referred to itas, "...the most beautiful instrument that I have ever used." In thecourse of his work with Poulter, Van Allen learned machine shop practice,glass blowing,weldingandbrazing, vacuum techniques and, of greatest importance, theessential elements of original experimental research.Poulter invited Van Allen to accompany him on the Antarctic expedition,but Van Allen's parents vetoed the proposal. He had to be content withlistening avidly to theshort-wave radioreports fromLittle Americatofollow the expedition's progress. He, with the rest of the world, waselectrified by Poulter's heroic rescue of Admiral Byrd from his lonely vigilatSouth Pole StationinAugust 1934. Poulterand Byrd were honored by a public parade in Mount Pleasant the next summer, andAdmiral Byrd delivered the chief commencement address at Van Allen's graduationexercises. Van Allen went to his "family" university, theState University of Iowa,for graduate work in physics. The physics faculty at the time numbered five,George W. Stewart (department head from 1909), John A. Eldridge, Edward P. T.Tyndall, Claude J. Lapp, and Alexander Ellett. Van Allen's master's thesis insolid-state physics, with Tyndall as his advisor, was entitled:ASensitive Apparatus for Determining Young’s Modulus at Small Tensional Strains.Hereceived his M.S. degree at the end of his first year there, in 1936. Afellowship allowed him to continue studying nuclear physics at theCarnegie InstitutioninWashington, D.C., where he also became immersed in research ingeomagnetism,cosmic rays,auroralphysics and the physics of Earth's upperatmosphere. Van Allen pursued his Ph.D. research with Professor Ellett, who wasswitching his primary focus at the time from atomic beams to experimentalnuclear physics. As part of his work, Van Allen, with Robert Huntoon andothers, built a highly improvised Cockroft-Walton high-voltage power supply andaccelerator. After much hard work and diligent coaxing of the cantankerousmachine, he was eventually able to make a pair of successful runs, resulting inhis dissertation:Absolute Cross-Section for the Nuclear DisintegrationH2 + H2 > H3 + H1 and Its Dependence on Bombarding Energy.He received his Ph.D. degree in June 1939.